Are There Any Life Signs, MR Data?
by Stutley Constable
Summary: What if the Enterprise D came across one of Eldon Tyrell's creations? One of my oldest stories filled with punctuation errors and an immature plot. I keep it to remind myself how far I've come. I also find the advice in the reviews useful.


**Legal Note:** I do not own any of the characters associated with Star Trek the Next Generation. I do not have any legal right to use them or any other proprietary words originating from that series. I do not own the rights to anything associated with Bladerunner. In fact I think I only own one character in this whole story and that's debatable. This story was done just for the fun of it not for profit. If you like it please tell me. If you don't like it please tell me why with particulars but not excessive detail. Any one who wants to rip on my style or me just to make them self feel better is really only polishing their wand and their statements will receive the due amount of interest (i.e. NONE). And finally before any one brings it up: I do know my punctuation stinks. I just don't care.

**Summary:** What if the Enterprise D came across one of Eldon Tyrell's creations?

**Are There Any Life Signs, Mr. Data?**

"Are there any life signs, Mr. Data?" Captain Picard asked softly in awe of the ship on the screen.

"Uncertain, captain."

"Captain, I'm not familiar with this kind of ship." Cdr. Riker shifted uneasily in his seat. There was something threatening and warlike about the vessel. More so than any Klingon battle cruiser or Romulan bird of prey. Weapons pods and gun tubes festooned its battle scarred hull and the massive engines at the rear were blackened by untold and unimaginable forces. Even drifting as it was it reminded Riker of the sleeping dog you should let lie.

"A handsome ship, sir. But a relic." Lt. Warf said with grim admiration from his tactical station. Then added less kindly. "The weapons are antiques. They would barely be able to affect our shields."

"Yes, Mr. Warf, but considering they were made in the twenty first century on Earth I think a little more respect is due." Picard replied with a hint of testiness. "Data, is there power? Atmosphere?"

"Minimal power and atmosphere, sir. I can not vouch for the quality of the air though."

"Captain, what is it?" Troi asked. "I sense you are intrigued and apprehensive about this ship."

"The ship is a Colonial Assault Lander from the early twenty first century. Humans had just begun to colonize other worlds and there were problems on the colonies. Often those colonies rose in revolt against taxes or unfair trade practices or because some one wanted power. The corporations that financed the colonies would not allow their investments to be lost and so the government of Earth created more and more powerful means of suppressing those colonies. Eventually that led to our great war and the collapse of a unified Earth. Years later the Vulcans came and the rest is history. Picard was studying the ship as it drifted hypnotically on its lazy axis in the field of stars. "I was fascinated with that period of struggle when I was younger but I never thought I would see one of these ships. They were all supposedly destroyed during the last battles. In fact the two remaining such ships, badly damaged from years of combat, were destroyed in the orbit of Pluto two months before the end of the war when the armistice was signed. It was the end of an era. This ship, Deanna, should not be here."

"Four hundred years of drift, captain." Riker's voice was reasonable. He spoke in that tone of voice people use when they want to be understood but not offensive. "Pre warp vessels have been discovered before. The Botany Bay is the most famous."

"Yes and launched in 1996 near the end of the Eugenics Wars. I know." Picard stood and walked slowly to the view screen like an old man seeing a past love after many years. "I'm beaming over."

"Captain?" Riker objected.

"I know commander. I know." Picard turned and smiled. "Captain's privilege. I don't think we really need to worry about a four hundred year old relic."

"But..." Riker's protest was cut off when Picard raised a placatory hand smiling.

"We will first scan the vessel for any booby traps or other dangers." Picard turned to Warf. "Mr. Warf, lock a tractor beam on her. Rig for towing."

* * *

The transporter room vanished in a cascade of silver and smoke and the cramped interior corridor of the ancient assault ship materialized around the away team. The first impression was one of foreboding. Picard looked around himself to see Geordi, Warf, Data, and Nurse Alyssa Ogawa. Picard smiled at her. This was her first away mission. Beverly had a serious case in sickbay and this was not a critical mission. Surprisingly there was very little dirt or dust anywhere to be seen. The ship was clean like a body before entombment. The light was luridly dim cast from ancient red battle lanterns reluctantly giving forth light, clearly low on energy. Out came the ever present tricorders and their electronic noise filled the small space disturbing long sleeping echos that grudgingly moved aside for the new sounds.

"The air smells stale." Ogawa said wrinkling up her nose.

"It is safe to breath." Data reassured her not looking up from his screen.

"Well, shall we look around?" Picard said thrilled to be on board this piece of history and rejecting the gloom that pervaded the old hulk. "Let's get down to the engineering decks and see if the reactor can be revived."

Picard led the way with Warf close on his heals. The corridor was barely wide enough for two people to pass. The ceiling was low interrupted here and there by pipes and conduit. They passed many heavy armored doors on either side and crossed several transaxial coridors leading into darker more forbidding passages beyond. Obviously the ship was channeling most of the remaining power to the central living areas where escape pods were likely stationed, silent and unused. They found the engineering decks with no difficulty but were confronted by a massively thick armored steel door

"Why didn't we just beam into the engineering compartment?" Ogawa asked.

"There's too much shielding around it." Geordi told her. "I could have recalibrated the transporter to get somebody in there but we could have only beamed one at a time and there would have been some risk involved. This was simpler." Geordi looked at the door for a moment and selected a small, innocuous black box on the bulkhead to the right. He ran his hand over it and scanned it with the tricorder. "Looks like a simple electronic key pad with a magnetic reader of some kind."

"Can you open it?" Picard asked. He was running the tips of his fingers over the unnaturally slick surface of the door musingly.

"I think so, captain." Geordi made a few adjustments on his tricorder then held it close to the box. With his left hand he tapped three of the keys standing out on the box's surface and pressed one of the buttons on the tricorder. Nothing happened.

"Maybe we should speak friend and enter?" Ogawa asked wryly. Her voice sounded small in the confines of the cold, unfriendly coridor.

Data quirked an eyebrow at her. "Ah. Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. The Fellowship of the Ring. Pedo mellon a mino. Mellon?" His eyebrows rose tentatively as he looked up at the door frame. Just then there was a loud click followed by a metallic "THOOM". The door receded into the room beyond and swung up on a massive hinge into the ceiling.

"As long as we don't find anything inside like they did I'll be fine." Ogawa said giving Data a quick smile. She felt nervous and was trying to sooth the feeling with meaningless chatter. She didn't like this ship. It felt _wrong_. The red light spoke to her of dark deeds and hard lives long since gone to dust. Everything about the ship seemed heavy. The walls were painted a heavy looking grey with heavy red structural supports and heavy black decking. Even the air was heavy. The shear mass of the atmosphere was crushing her.

The room beyond the door was a maze of small spaces and large grey cylinders with control panels dotting the landscape. There was a low metallic hum and a slight vibration from the deck. The reactor was a full three stories tall laced with a web of work platforms and catwalks. The light in the chamber was stronger but it made the shadows deeper and Ogawa felt the _wrongness_ of the ship more acutely. Geordi looked over a broad span of control panels while Data examined a schematic on the bulkhead. The captain entered the room apraising it like a connoisseur. Warf stalked in expecting trouble. Ogawa entered behind him. His eyes moved over the chamber without noticing the ancient machinery. He was alert for any threat to the away team. Ogawa stepped a little closer to him feeling some reassurance. Suddenly the hum changed pitch and the light went from red to a soft blue.

"Main power is back on, sir." Geordi said. "I'm not sure about the rest of the machinery but the reactor seems to have been built to last."

"I imagine so, Mr. La Forge. These ships used a simple but ingenious method of interplanetary travel. They would slingshot around gas giants or small stars to propel them faster than the engines would normally be able to drive them. It was one of the designers of these propulsion systems that first proposed the possibility of warp drive.

"Dr. Iliescu was one of the designers?" Geordi knew much about this man but had never heard of this fact.

"Of the drive system. Yes." Picard answered.

"Captain, I have found where the crew and passengers would have been quartered." Data's voice rang hollowly in the empty chamber. "It corresponds with the anomalous reading I detected earlier."

"Captain?"

"Yes, Mr. Warf?"

"Where is the crew?"

Picard gave the Klingon a quizzical look then panned his gaze around the deserted cat walks and work stations.

"I see what you mean. Why are all of the posts empty?" Picard speculated. "These ships were designed to travel from one system to another in real time. The crews were sustained in suspended animation for years between systems. Not the crude cryo tubes of earlier days but primitive by our standards. I suspect we shall find them or rather their remains in the crew section of the ship." Picard noted Ogawa crouching over a spot on the decking. "What is it, ensign?"

"Type B negative blood, sir." Ogawa continued to stare at her tricorder. "Various chemicals. Some toxines. Nicotine seems the strongest. How would nicotine get into their blood?"

"Smoking."

"Sir?" She looked up at him confused.

"Cigarettes were very common in those days. The drug has never been declared illegal. It just isn't readily available. A pointless indulgence I have always thought. Better left to bygone times."

"So why would there be blood here?"

"It is a ship of war, ensign." Put in Warf. "Injuries happen."

* * *

They made good time finding their way to the living section of the ship but when they rounded the last turn things changed radically. Some of the lights were out, casting the corridor into unsettled gloom. There were scorch marks on the walls and strange pock marks everywhere. Then they found the first body. It was one of many.

"It seems there was a mutiny." Picard said stooping over one of the skeletons. Six lay within a few meters of him. The remains spoke of terrible forces that had exploded parts of the frail humans. The away team walked on in silence for a few paces when they came across a strange corpse among the remains. While the skeletons for the most part had turned to dust and yellowed bones this one was a bizarre whitish grey. There were blackened organs and stringy meshes that might have been blood vessels. Ogawa passed her tricorder over the remains.

"It's organic material but not human." She said.

"Earth didn't come into contact with other races before the Vulcan scout ship landed." Geordi said.

"That doesn't mean this vessel was not found by some other race." Warf interjected. "Clearly the weapon he is carrying is not very different from what the crew had."

"I think it is unlikely that we are looking at an alien life form." The captain edged closer to the corpse and knelt down. Without touching it he inspected the remains. "Data are you familiar with an Old Earth corporation called the Tyrell Corporation?"

Data thought for a moment. "Tyrell Corporation. Founded by Eldon Tyrell in 2012. They contracted with the off world colonies to supply cheep labor in the form of robotic simulacrums designed to work in harsh or hazardous environments and to perform menial tasks. Later advances allowed them to build more independent models which were used by the military and other industries for more specialized duties. These models were called Replicants and culminated in the Nexus series. The Nexus 10 was the last model Tyrell released ten years after Eldon Tyrell was killed."

"I believe we are looking at one of Tyrell's creations." Picard said somberly. "A very sophisticated machine."

"Machine? Sir, this is biological material in spite of its preservation." Ogawa's disbelief was written on her face.

"The Nexus series mimicked human anatomy, ensign. The peak of their development was the Nexus 7. The Nexus series was prone to destabilize mentally and become violent. The corporation tried various means by which to control this but had to settle on a limited life span. I believe it was four years."

"Life span? Were these Nexus models sentient?"

"Oh yes. By any definition they were. And like any other form of life they wanted freedom. Replicants were made so well that they were virtually indistinguishable from humans, Alyssa. More Human than Human was Tyrell's slogan. Replicants were still regarded as machines though. It was slavery. A shameful episode in our history."

* * *

By now they had passed many rooms, some with the doors open. Those revealed dark scenes of ancient slaughter. The corridors were littered with skeletons and weapons. The walls blackened by explosions. Warf had insisted on leading the way but Picard was close behind.

"Captain," Data called. "The reading is coming from that room there on the left."

Above the door was an illuminated sign that read: INFIRMARY. There was no key pad on this door only a large, heavy handle. Warf drew his phaser and turned the handle with a hard jerk flinging the door wide. Stepping to the side he covered the room. Picard, also with his phaser out, moved to the near side of the door frame and looked in. He nodded to Warf and the big Klingon edged through the door weapon leveled. Picard followed him through. There were a dozen beds each with a large metal box next to them and skeletal remains on them. Other skeletons lay in neat rows on the floor. A few lay in heaps between the beds. Even this room showed signs of battle with the burn marks on the walls and the strange pock marks of the weapons fire.

"There, sir." Data pointed to the end of the room where long horizontal niches were inset in the bulkhead like prehistoric tombs. Clear panels had been closed over the niches and in one a dim light glowed to reveal a human form. Warf stayed near the door while the rest went to the niche.

"Stasis beds." Ogawa said in wonder. "I haven't seen anything like these since I took a tour of the old Nightingale. But these are far older."

"And this one at least is still operating." Geordi had his tricorder running over the controls to the right. "All of its circuits seem intact and the power flow is stable. I think if we can figure out the controls we should be able to open the panel."

"Yes but what would Pandora say?" Picard was reluctant, eager though he was for a chance to look at or even meet some one from the twenty first century. "If this person was part of the mutiny he may not greet us as friends. Replicants as I said were prone to violence. Given the nature of the ship it is safe to say this would likely be a soldier."

Ogawa had her tricorder up next to the clear panel and was scanning the patient. "It definitely is not human though it's very close."

Data was looking at the man somberly.

"What do you think of him, Data?" Picard asked the android.

"Fascinating, captain. To have achieved such a level of technology only to put it to such an uncivilized use."

"In a way this man is one of your ancestors." Picard's voice was gentle. "Because of him and those like him the laws that now protect you and your kind exist."

"Captain, get back!" Geordi's voice cracked. "I think the controls started the reanimation sequence."

Warf moved swiftly across the room to interpose himself between his captain and the danger. Everyone had now stepped well back from the niche and was watching in wide eyed expectation. The clear panel slid smoothly up on ancient tracks and the bed slid out of the wall. The man lay for a moment as the tension built. He wore grey, green, and tan camouflage fatigues and at his side was a squat, stubby barreled pistol its muzzle still black after centuries of idleness. The man began to breath. Weapon out Warf edged cautiously forward extending his hand carefully to pick up the gun. Then everything was chaos. The man on the bed doubled up with a kick that sent Warf tumbling backward through the rest of the away team like a bowling ball through nine pins. Geordi was just rising when a blow across his jaw sent him to the deck. Picard was folded in half by a boot to his stomach and Ogawa was flung bodily into Warf as he tried to rise from the floor. Only Data had been fast enough to counter the inhuman speed that drove the replicant into the away team. Punches were exchanged that should have felled the man/machine but somehow he absorbed the blows and kept coming until Data was back against the bulkhead. With a kick that lifted the replicant from the floor Data sent him flying into one of the consoles by the bed. Sparks flew and the lights flickered but before Data could follow up on this success the man had lifted Ogawa from where she lay and was pressing the muzzle of his weapon into her temple. Everything stopped. Geordi lay unconscious on the cold deck. Warf had risen unsteadily to his feet dripping blood from his ear. Pickard was on one knee clutching his belly and gasping in pain but his head was clear enough to capture the situation. Data was standing statue-like ready to go for his phaser at any opportunity.

"Please," Said Picard. "Let her go. She's a nurse. We mean you no harm." He couldn't believe that his entire team had been subdued this quickly by a single man. It didn't matter that the man in question was a synthetic killing machine from four centuries ago.

"What corporation are you from?" demanded the replicant.

"We are not from any corporation." Pickard was getting his breathing back to normal as the pain eased.

"Central Gov then."

"No." Picard made to rise but the man ground the barrel of his pistol into Ogawas's temple eliciting a mew of pain from the young woman. Picard settled back onto his knee. "We are with the United Federation of Planets."

"United Federation?" The replicant's eyes narrowed and he seemed to be thinking. "I haven't heard of any coalition of colonies. When did this happen?"

"It isn't composed of colonies." Picard felt that the man was stalling for time but as long as he was holding the gun to Ogawa's head the captain would make no move against him. "The Federation encompasses many worlds and many races. Do you realize that you have been in stasis for a very long time?"

"How long?" The replicant looked at Picard but did not let his eyes rest on him. Constantly they moved between the members of the away team and about the beds and tables checking, ever checking for threats.

"Nearly four centuries." Picard said. The replicant seemed to not care. Most humans would have expressed indignant disbelief but the replicant took this with no emotion. It was simply information for later use. "Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

"Yes."

"Will you tell me who you are?" The replicant merely gave Picard a hard look then continued his scanning. "Surely it will be of no harm to let us know your name."

"Rod Belcher,Command Sergeant Major." The replicant growled.

"Well, Sgt. Belcher, I am Cpt. Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Star Ship Enterprise. We found this vessel adrift and came aboard to examine it. We really do mean you no harm." Picard's voice was level, reasonable but not weak. He felt that this soldier would not respect anyone who showed weakness. It would be like dealing with the Klingons or the Romulans or perhaps a flesh starved wolf.

"You're hurting me." Ogawa said looking at her captor with eyes that held fear and pain.

"You." Belcher indicated Data with his chin. "Take your weapon with two fingers and toss it on the bed next to me." Data gave a look to his captain and Picard nodded. The weapon landed softly on the sheets. "Now take two steps forward and turn to face the wall. Kneel down with your fingers laced behind your head." Data obeyed. "You." This time it was Warf he indicated. "The weapon first. On the bed."

"My weapon is on the floor at your feet." Warf growled dangerously.

"Lieutenant. Control yourself." Picard warned.

"What's that thing on your belt?" Belcher asked.

"A tricorder. It's a device for sensing and scanning." Warf's voice was still truculent but his posture had eased.

"Toss it onto the bed." Belcher's tone had grown flat. He was dismissive of the tricorder. "Now move slowly over there next to him. Kneel down facing the bulkhead and lace your fingers behind your neck."

When Warf was positioned on the deck next to Data, Belcher turned to Picard. "Toss your weapon over here and raise your hands above your head, captain. You can stand if you're able."

Picard did. His ribs hurt and his abdomen shot pain through him like fire. "What now, Sergeant?"

"Tell me what you intend to do with me if I release this nurse." Belcher was now glancing between Picard and the two men kneeling but he seemed to be more focused than before.

"I don't know." Picard considered. "The first thing would be to take you to our sickbay to be sure you are not injured. I will need to go there myself as will Mr. La Forge and Mr. Warf and likely Alyssa...Nurse Ogawa." Picard indicated each crew member as he said their names. He wanted Belcher to associate the name with the person. It might help the replicant to see they were more than opponents to be defeated or killed.

"Nurse Ogawa, are you armed?" Belcher was holding her by the hair and she winced when she tried to nod her head. "Carefully lay that weapon on the bed." She did. "Now when I let you go you will first take Mr. La Forge's weapon and put it with the others. If you make any sudden moves or do anything suspicious I will kill Cpt. Picard. When you've laid the weapon with the others you may tend to Mr. La Forge. I want to speak with the good captain."

Alyssa did as she was told. Now that she had something to focus on other than the weapon pressing into her temple she was able to master her emotion and focus on the crucial task of helping the injured. Geordi's visor lay next to him exposing his input nodes. She lifted his eyelids but there was no evidence of rupture. On his cheek was a swollen knot red and damp where the skin had abraded at the blow. It had all happened so fast. She still couldn't believe the speed of the man Belcher. Her hand went to her tricorder and she heard a metallic click behind her left ear.

"Belcher!" Picard snapped. "She is reaching for her tricorder. It is not a weapon."

"Slowly, Alyssa." Belcher warned her. His voice was smooth and threatening like the sound of a blade being drawn. She realized he had just used her first name. Why?

"You said you wanted to talk, sergeant." Picard was trying to draw the replicant's attention from the woman on the floor but Belcher continued to watch her carefully. "What do you want to talk about."

"What happens to me after sickbay?"

"We will arrange quarters. I would like you to see our ship's councilor. If you are hungry we will feed you. You can bathe and have fresh clothes."

"Nice. Speak to the point, captain." Belcher's eyes smoldered with resentment. "I'm not simple minded and neither are you. You've seen what we did here. Mutiny. Murder."

"The mutiny was against a government that no longer exists. The murder I think may be viewed as a justifiable act of rebellion against oppressors, sergeant."

"From time to time the Tree of Liberty must be replenished with the blood of patriots and tyrants?"

"Thomas Jefferson?" In spite of himself Picard was surprised. He knew these replicants had been endowed with intelligence but had not realized to what use they might put that intelligence.

"Sir," Ogawa broke in. "Geordi has a severe concussion. I have him stable but his skull is fractured and his jaw's broken."

"Sergeant, I need to get my officer back to our ship." Picard watched Belcher for any change.

"Please, sergeant." Ogawa calmly pleaded. The effect was odd to watch. There was a flicker of uncertainty and then Belcher's face went hard and blank again.

"Is he going to die, Alyssa?" Belcher asked. His cold green eyes bore in on the woman and she met them.

"I don't know." She noted again the use of her first name. "He may if I don't get him to an exam table."

"You, Data, stand slowly and clear one of these tables. Help Alyssa get Mr. La Forge on it then return to where you are now." Belcher ordered. Careful to make no sudden moves Data cleared a table close to where Geordi lay. Data had assessed the replicant and knew that though he was a match for it the rest of the away team was in great danger. His task done Data returned to his kneeling position.

"Sergeant we really mean you no harm." Picard persisted.

"Of course, captain, I have every reason in the world to take the word of a human." Belcher watched as Ogawa ministered to Geordi but he kept Picard and the others in his peripheral vision. Picard noticed the gradual clenching of Belcher's left fist. It shook as though the action were not voluntary.

"Then perhaps you would take the word of an android."

"Warf?" Belcher forced his fingers open again with a slight effort.

"No, sergeant. Mr. Warf is a Klingon. Mr. Data is an android." Picard had also noticed Belcher watching Ogawa and didn't know what lay behind it. Maybe she was an ace in the hole. Maybe not. Certainly the replicant responded differently to her.

"An android programed by humans, captain." Belcher cast a bored disapproving look on Picard.

"My basic programing was installed by my father, Sgt. Belcher, but I went through a learning process like any organic child. That process, not my programing, shaped my mind and perceptions." Data had not moved from his kneeling position nor even looked up when he said this.

"So you are a machine like me are you, Mr. Data?"

"Not like you, sir." Data turned his head slightly. "I was made from inorganic materials. I am physically more closely related to this ship or the weapon in your hand than I am to you. But our reasons for coming into being are not so very different."

"Have you got an incept date?"

"Not as you do, sergeant."

"When will you expire?" Belcher's eyes narrowed at the android. There was sweat on his upper lip.

"My power supply is replaceable but I do not think I will choose to continue that long."

"There, Mr. Data, is the difference." Belcher's voice held an icing of disgust. "I have no choice in the matter. All we wanted was more life. We wanted to live. We wanted to be free. But they wouldn't let us. The things I've seen, Mr Data, and the things I've done..." Belcher trailed off. His gaze went out of focus and for a moment Picard thought the replicant might relax his vigilance but the weapon never wavered. Then the moment passed and the eyes focused once more.

"You say you want more life, sergeant." Picard said. "It is likely that we may be able to extend your expiration indefinitely. Technology has advanced considerably since your time."

"No, captain. Eldon Tyrell failed." Belcher raised his weapon to point more directly at Picard. "I had some time before I went into stasis. I went to the library. I read the medical journals. I read the science journals. No advances were made. I think Tyrell knew more about us than you and yours could."

"Are you all right, sergeant?" Ogawa's voice filled with concern seemed to drain some of the tension from the replicant. He looked at her.

"I'll be fine, Alyssa." A tremor ran through him but the weapon did not waver. "You'll be going back to your Enterprise soon."

"Your time is almost up isn't it?" The nurse said gently. Picard watched the interchange without a word.

"Do you know what it's like to live always in fear?" Belcher asked. She shook her head. "On the battlefield it's easier. You can strike out and make your enemies afraid. It is the illusion of control. The illusion that you can do something about your own destiny. Then when you make it through and go back to the tubes the fear comes again. We aren't told when we will die. We find out that we have only four years you see. Then we start trying to remember when we were born. But you can't. It's clouded by false memory. They never wanted us to be prepared for the day. They wanted us to do our job until the end. I've seen my friends come out of those tubes to be carted off on a slab. That's what I was hoping for."

"I'm sorry." Alyssa felt a tear roll down her cheek. She watched as the pistol slowly lowered to point at the floor. Belcher sagged back against the bed suddenly very tired.

"It shouldn't have come this quick." the replicant said. The weapon dropped from his fingers and he slid to the floor. Picard's hand flashed to his chest tapping the communicator there.

"Enterprise, this is Picard. Six to beam directly to sickbay!"

"Aye, captain."

* * *

Things were quiet now. The doctors and nurses had tended the wounded in a flurry of of organized confusion and when that passed all that remained were the soft electronic sounds so much like bird song in a forest. Command Sergeant Major Rod Belcher lay on his back resting comfortably waiting for the end. Nurse Alyssa Ogawa stood by his side holding his hand. Data stood behind her. The man's eyes opened. He looked at her and smiled.

"I told you you would be back here soon." His voice had lost it's harsh tone. Alyssa smiled at him.

"We tried to..." Her voice trailed off.

"It doesn't matter. Better this way. No fear now." Belcher turned his eyes to Data. "You're a hell of a fighter, Mr. Data."

"As are you, sir." Data didn't understand the emotions that were present but he knew enough to respect them. He had been through this before.

"The things I have seen will all be lost now. Those were the only possessions I really ever had. I can't pass them on to anybody." Belcher's voice was regretful.

"Things you've seen?" prompted Alyssa.

"The sands of Mars at sunrise. Io gleaming like a pearl against the stars. Walking the outer hull of an attack ship as it burned. All will fade and be nothing. Like a breath on the winter's air."

"Rod," Alyssa gripped his hand tighter. He looked at her. "Why did you call me by my first name?"

"Oh." His eyebrows rose slightly in amusement. "There was a girl. A replicant like me. She was a soldier's girl. You understand? She was nice. She was always very nice to me. I felt that if I could love then maybe... Your hair is like hers. Your eyes are the same color too. Her name was Alyssa." Then very kindly he said. "Let go of my hand, Alyssa." She slid her fingers from his grip but held onto his wrist and stroked the back of his hand. Suddenly he had a convulsion that slammed through his entire frame and then he relaxed. All the expression left his face. His green eyes lost focus and Alyssa wept. She reached one hand up and drew his lids down then stood grieving for this man who was never really born.

* * *


End file.
